Steps to provide quality health services in state
Chandigarh, December 11
The Haryana Government, to provide quality health services, has implemented a number of schemes which include the Rs 749-crore reproductive and child health-care programme phase II, setting up of Arogya Kosh and the public-private partnership programme for providing comprehensive specialists’ care in hospitals and community health centres.

Exchange of fire between police, criminals
Sonepat, December 11
Quite a stir was caused when the police and the criminals exchanged fire in the Adarsh Nagar area here this morning. However, none was hurt in the cross-firing, but the criminals managed to escape.

Gita Jayanti Samaroh endsKurukshetra, December 11
The Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Vinod Sharma, today performed aarti amid the blowing of conch and chanting of hymns at the Brahmasarovar as a mark of culmination of the five-day Utsav-Gita Jayanti Samaroh here today.

A view of “Deep Dan” in Kurukshetra on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by Neeraj Chopra

Waste management project soon
Panipat, December 11
The MC is all set to have a solid waste management project to make the town free from problem of garbage dumping. The civic body had purchased 8 acre land at Nimbri village on Hardwar road for the ambitious project.

Hisar school Principal suspended
Chandigarh, December 11
The Haryana Directorate of School Education has placed under suspension Ms Usha Rani, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Balsamand, Hisar, for allegedly manoeuvering her selection as Principal through the State Public Service Commission on the basis of a fabricated teaching experience certificate in 1996.

1 killed, 2 hurt in assault
Panchkula, December 11
A 50-year-old man was killed while two others suffered serious injuries during a wedding ceremony this evening, when some assailants attacked them in Bataur village, near Barwala, here.

Girl dies as stove bursts
Pinjore, December 11
A 17-year-old girl was killed after she suffered burn injuries in a stove burst at her residence here this evening.

Chandigarh, December 11
The Congress MLA from Tosham, Mrs Kiran Choudhry, plans to introduce a Bill aimed at controlling population in Haryana during the winter session of the Assembly opening from December 14.

Titled as “the Haryana Population Control Bill, 2005”, it is perhaps for the first time in the past 13 years when a private member’s Bill will be introduced in the Haryana Assembly. The Bill aims at introducing certain disincentives for those who do not follow the two-child norm as well as incentives for those who go for sterilisation after having two children.

Mrs Choudhry, a former Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly, has proposed in the Bill that any person who procreates more than two living children after one year of the Act coming into force “will not be entitled to contest elections to the Assembly, municipal corporations, municipal councils and panchayats”.

Such persons will also be debarred from the allotment of a house in any housing scheme launched by the government. They will not be given membership of any cooperative society formed for the construction of a dwelling unit. They will not be given loan facilities by any financial institution under the control of the Haryana Government. They will also be not allowed to take ration under the public distribution system or cooking gas from government-owned company.

They will also not be given jobs in an establishment under the control of the government or the local bodies.

Mrs Choudhry, who is the widow of former Agriculture Minister of Haryana Surender Singh, has also listed some special measures to promote small family culture among government employees. Those who violate the two-child norm, will be denied promotion and increments. On the other hand the Bill proposes one month’s salary as increment to those government employees who undergo sterilisation operations after having two children.

The Tosham MLA says when Haryana came into existence in 1966, it had a population of about one crore. During the decade ending 1981, the state population registered a growth rate of 28.7 per cent. During the next decade the population growth rate in the state was 27.4 per cent. During 1991-2001, the population growth rate was 28.6 per cent.

She says the birth rate in Haryana has always been above the national average. The increase in population negates the benefits of development schemes launched by the state government.

Mrs Choudhry says the average per capita annual plan expenditure in Haryana is higher as compared to the average national expenditure, yet the basic essential services and facilities have not been provided to a large section of the population. About 19 lakh persons in the state are living in sub-human conditions in slums. About 8.27 per cent population of the villages and 9.99 per cent urbanites in Haryana are below the poverty line. Unless the population growth is checked, no government can improve their lot. While for the municipal bodies and Panchayati Raj institutes the provision already exists under relevant Acts which debar those who have more than two children from becoming members, no such condition applies to the members of the Legislative Assembly. Legal experts feel to make such conditions applicable to the MLAs, a Constitutional amendment is required and a state law cannot achieve the desired purpose.

Chandigarh, December 11
The Haryana Government, to provide quality health services, has implemented a number of schemes which include the Rs 749-crore reproductive and child health-care programme phase II, setting up of Arogya Kosh and the public-private partnership programme for providing comprehensive specialists’ care in hospitals and community health centres.

Stating this here today, the Financial Commissioner, Health, Ms Urvashi Gulati, said under the National Rural Health Mission steps were being taken to reduce infant and maternal mortality by encouraging institutional deliveries and family planning and immunisation services.

She said the state government had formulated a scheme, Arogya
Kosh, to provide super-specialised treatment for life-threatening diseases like acute
myo-cardinal infraction, coronary bye-pass surgery, kidney transplantation and kidney failure to patients living below the poverty line. She said the state government had released its share of Rs 1 crore and the Union Government had been approached to release its share of funds for the scheme.

Ms Gulati said under the public-private partnership programme a pilot project had been started in the districts of Gurgaon, Rohtak, Ambala and Hisar for which a budget of Rs 2 crore had been earmarked. Private specialists were being empowered to provide health care to the under privileged, wherever specialist services were not available in government hospitals.

She said Rs 3 crore was being spent for establishing 300 delivery huts to provide safe delivery services to the community in a homely environment. So far 114 delivery huts had already been established to reduce the maternal and infant mortality in the state.

To provide uninterrupted power to the hospitals, Rs 2.50 crore was being spent for providing independent feeder lines during the current financial year. Besides this, Rs 50 lakh was being spent for the augmentation of water supply to the health institutions.

Ms Gulati said to improve the health status of people of Mewat, 20 multi-speciality health-care camps would be organised in each block of Mewat district and one such camp had already been organised at
Nagina. Primary health care would be provided to the people of the area through mobile medical units.

Sonepat, December 11
Quite a stir was caused when the police and the criminals exchanged fire in the Adarsh Nagar area here this morning. However, none was hurt in the cross-firing, but the criminals managed to escape.

According to information, a police party, headed by CIA Inspector Gurdeep Singh, conducted a surprise raid on a house owned by Sajjan Singh in the wee hours today in a bid to arrest two criminals involved in a murder case. On seeing the police, they tried to flee. The police party chased them, but one of them fired shot at the police party. The police also returned the fire, but the criminals managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

Thereafter, the police took into custody the owner of the house for interrogation and is reported to have told the police officials that both criminals reached his house around midnight and they were allowed to stay in his house as they too belonged to his native Kami village in Sonepat district.

It is stated that both accused were involved in a case of murder of Jagdish of Kami village and a dacoity in Samalkha. The main suspect is identified as Sandeep of Kami village and he along with his accomplice was hiding himself in the house.

The police has also launched a massive hunt to apprehend the culprits.

Kurukshetra, December 11
The Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Vinod Sharma, today performed aarti amid the blowing of conch and chanting of hymns at the Brahmasarovar as a mark of culmination of the five-day Utsav-Gita Jayanti Samaroh here today.

Panipat, December 11
The MC is all set to have a solid waste management project to make the town free from problem of garbage dumping. The civic body had purchased 8 acre land at Nimbri village on Hardwar road for the ambitious project.

According to the president of the council, Mr Vinod Wadhera, the town would soon be free from garbage dumping. The state government had given nod to the project.

Mr Wadhera said panchayat land at Nimbri village was purchased at a price of Rs 3 lakh per acre. He admitted that till date council was using unscientific methods by dumping garbage in the low-lying areas of town, which posed a threat to health of local residents.

He further informed that possession of land would be given within a couple of days. The council has also chalked out a plan to rope in the residents in the cleanliness plan. Under the plan, shopkeepers and various housing colonies would be provided with the garbage collection units. He said the shopkeepers would be given special garbage collection kits. The municipality had recently purchased 20 trucks and hand-driven carts to collect garbage from the garbage collection points.

Chandigarh, December 11
The Haryana Directorate of School Education has placed under suspension Ms Usha Rani, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Balsamand, Hisar, for allegedly manoeuvering her selection as Principal through the State Public Service Commission on the basis of a fabricated teaching experience certificate in 1996.

The Commissioner and Director-General, School Education, Mr K.K. Khandelwal, today said a criminal case would be got registered against Ms Usha Rani. It was alleged that she had only six months’ experience as the Head of a high school.

Mr Khandelwal said the matter was got enquired into by the Joint Director, Administration-cum-Inquiry Office of the department. After the inquiry, the allegations were found to be true. The DEO, Hisar, had also recommended a strong disciplinary as well as legal action against her, he added.

Panchkula, December 11
A 50-year-old man was killed while two others suffered serious injuries during a wedding ceremony this evening, when some assailants attacked them in Bataur village, near Barwala, here.

An old feud is being cited as the motive behind the killing.

According to the police, the wedding celebrations were in progress when the assailants, who were about 8 to 10 in number and armed with swords and sickles, came to the venue and attacked the victims.

Satpal, father of the bridegroom, was seriously injured in the assault while his two other relatives sustained serious injuries.

The police was called and the injured were rushed to the Sector 6 General Hospital. Satpal died on way to the hospital and was declared dead on arrival while the condition of one of the injured was stated to be serious.

No case had been registered till the filing of the report. The police was investigating.

Pinjore, December 11
A 17-year-old girl was killed after she suffered burn injuries in a stove burst at her residence here this evening.

According to the police, Neeru was cooking meals when the stove blew off accidentally. She was seriously injured and was rushed to the Sector 6 General Hospital in Panchkula. The doctors referred her to the PGI judging the seriousness of her condition, where she later succumbed to her injuries.

Ambala, December 11
A former President of the Haryana unit of the BJP, Mr Ratan Lal Kataria, today said a mid-term poll was expected in 2006. He was addressing a meeting of party workers of Naggal unit at Nasirpur village.

Mr Kataria said the party had decided to constitute separate units for the rural block. He claimed that the BJP had increased its base in the rural belt. He said a meeting of the state executive of the party would be held in Bhiwani on December 17.
OC